How to avoid putting on weight this season

'Tiss the season to shed that belly

According to the this survey, you’re likely to gain 2.7kg over the Christmas-New Year period. But is it possible to go through the festive season without putting on weight and joining this statistic? Yes. And you don’t have to live on moong sprouts from now until the New Year.

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Drink with science

Alcohol is often vilified. Many people decline a glass of red wine around the table with friends thinking they’re “being good”. This is because per gram alcohol contains seven calories, which is only slightly less calorie-dense than fat (it contains nine). But wine, whiskey and beer all have different physiological impacts on the human body which is far more complex than simply counting the calories on the bottle.

Let’s take red wine as an example. It’s been found to contain a natural, health-boosting compound known as resveratrol which scientists from the University of Illinois in Chicago discovered could have, “Anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective and antiviral properties.” Put simply, it’s pretty good for you.

Now consider this. Scientists from the Department of Medicine and Clinical Science at Kyushu University, Japan, believe that, “alcohol improves insulin sensitivity”. Improving insulin sensitivity is a very good thing since it means your body is better able to store and use the carbohydrates you’ve just eaten from the chocolate on the Christmas tree. Poor insulin sensitivity means those same chocolates will be more prone to being stored as fat.

Finally, try combining these two schools of thought and adding a cinnamon stick. Research published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found that, “Cinnamon may improve insulin sensitivity” too. What this means is a glass of traditional mulled wine could be the perfect cocktail to actually aid fat loss. Essentially be calorie conscious, but don’t ignore the science and magic of food and drink.

Healthy Spiced Mulled Wine Recipe

Try making this easy, healthy, aromatic mulled wine recipe in a slow cooker.

Ingredients

Half a bottle red wine

One cinnamon stick

One peeled and sliced orange (keep peel to add some zest)

Two cloves/dried flower buds

One pinch of stevia (a natural sweetener made from a plant native to South America)

Method

Place the ingredients into a saucepan and simmer gently for 6-8 minutes.

Make sure it doesn’t boil or burn.

To serve, pour the mulled wine into heatproof glasses.

Time your binge

Heed the words of scientists from the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine who found that binging after a bout of exercise dramatically improved your ability to absorb food.

This is because even a brief workout gets a protein within the body called GLUT4 firing. This aids the transport of glucose and improves insulin sensitivity which, again, means you’re more prone to storing that kingsize chocolate bar as muscle glycogen, not fat.

An idea supported by a paper published in the Annual Review of Medicine which stated, “Exercise training in humans results in numerous beneficial adaptations in skeletal muscles, including an increase in GLUT4 expression. The increase in muscle GLUT4 in trained individuals contributes to an increase in the responsiveness of muscle glucose uptake.”

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Finish Your Dinner

Research published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition supports the idea of demolishing the Christmas turkey. See, it’s been found that the protein-dense tradition, “Increases satiety to a greater extent than carbohydrate or fat and may facilitate a reduction in energy consumption.” Protein makes you feel fuller for longer so the lure of sugar-ridden desserts will decrease.

But the good news doesn’t stop there. Research from the Departments of Nutrition at Arizona State University found that a large part of the calories ingested through protein are lost as heat when metabolised by the body. It’s known as the thermic effect of food and it means that, by eating a high protein meal you effectively sit there burning more calories through digestion than you would nibbling on cheese and biscuits.

Target fast fix

Arms triceps dips on a chair

Image: Getty Images

2. Be tri-curious

Biceps may get all the love, but triceps actually make up about 70 per cent of your arm. So giving them extra attention can grow sleeve-busting arm muscles, too. Mathews suggests moves like extensions while standing (French presses) or while lying on a bench (skull crushers).

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3. Move those legs

If you’re skipping cardio but still want a big-kilojoule burn from a workout, punish your leg muscles, the largest in the body. Try weighted squats (barbell on shoulders), dead lifts, box jumps, and burpees. Keep the heart rate up – and torch kilojoules – by nixing rests between sets.

4. Sweat before you shed your shirt

Add 11th-hour definition with the previous three exercises, which are as essential to beach prep as slathering on SPF.

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5. Go low

The lower abs – the bottom two of the six- pack – are the weakest muscles in your torso. So work them first, before they become fatigued. Lie flat on your back, hands by your sides, legs raised straight towards the ceiling. While keeping lower back pressed against the floor, slowly lower feet to the ground.

6. But know when to ab-stain

Keep crunches to a minimum. “Too many creates a strength imbalance causing your body to bend forward and shorten the torso,” says personal trainer Harley Pasternak. “It creates postural issues and the illusion of a belly.” He suggests toning the area with planks instead.

Image: Vivek Muthuramalingam

7. Do cardio before breakfast

Semi-intense cardio on an empty stomach is the most efficient way to lose fat, says Mathews, because the body doesn’t have any ready glycogen to burn, so it uses stored fat to get through the workout. However, if you push yourself too hard, you’ll start cannibalising muscle. Keep the cardio easy enough (heart rate under 140) by alternating walking and running or by walking at a steep incline (both can be done on the treadmill). “You don’t want to be huffing and puffing,” says Mathews.

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8. Live hand-to-mouth

Turbocharge your metabolism and burn through body fat by eating five or six meals a day, every couple of hours, that are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.

This keeps blood-sugar levels stable and prevents you from getting so famished that you end up stuffing your face with fried chicken or a meat pie and choc milk. “You never want to be hungry, and you never want to be full,” says Mathews.